4 Days of Training
by jellybean88
Summary: Harry is quitting his paper route, but before he can leave he has to train the next person. Too bad it couldn't be someone he didn't know. HP/DM Slash.
1. Day 1

**Authors Notes: **I realized after posting this chapter the first time that I didn't put in little breaks…whoops. So I'm uploading it again. My apologies if you had an alert for this story and it somehow messed up your alert.

I want to give a million thanks to my wonderful beta juliakerns5 for betaing this chapter for me so quickly.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Harry Potter series, nor its characters in any way, shape, or form.

4 Days of Training

Day 1, June 2nd

A black-haired man stood against the wall of the distribution center for the local newspaper. His arms were crossed over his chest, a sour look on his face. The trainee was half an hour late and Harry Potter had better things to do then stand here. Mainly things like take a potential shag out for a drink; if the bloke was even available. Grunting, he pushed away from the wall and walked inside, making a beeline for the office.

"Oi, Potter! Aren't you training today?" came a shout from inside the warehouse.

Harry grinned and walked backwards to talk with the elderly man that had shouted at him. "Yeah, but I don't know where the bastard is," he said with a shrug.

The man's wife giggled by his side. "Behave yourself, Harry."

Harry's hand was already on the office door handle. "I always do," he said with a wink, pushing the door handle down and the door open with his hip.

The office was buzzing with activity. It reminded Harry of the Ministry. At the far back his boss sat at her desk, talking with a blond-haired man. She smiled sweetly at her companion, which was more then Harry had seen her do in the three months he had kept this job.

She looked up at his approaching footsteps and the smile vanished. "Harry, there you are. I was about to ask someone else to train Draco here."

Harry stopped dead in his tracks. There was no way that the blond sitting in the chair before Paula was the Draco Harry was thinking of. His hair was the wrong color for starters; more golden the platinum. And he sat there with an easy grace that Malfoy would never be able to display in a room full of Muggles.

"Well come over here and introduce yourself, Potter. There has been enough time wasted." At Harry's name the blond grew ridged.

The black-haired wizard bit the inside of his cheek as he made his way the rest of the way across the room. A dark coil of tension built up in his stomach. Please let this be a coincidence, he thought. The blond suddenly stood and faced him. His breath caught in his throat. It wasn't a coincidence.

Malfoy stood before him in jeans and a green polo shirt, the faintest trace of a smile on his face. His short hair was spiked ever so slightly. He inclined his head. "Potter."

Harry returned the gesture. "Malfoy."

"Oh, you two already know each other?" Paula asked, oblivious to the tension between the two men. "That's great. All the paperwork is in your cubby, Harry. You should get to work."

Harry turned on his heels and stalked back to the door. "Let's go, Malfoy."

With a hurried farewell, Draco rushed to catch up with the other man. At the row of cubbies the Boy-Who-Lived grabbed a sheet of paper and walked off again; assuming the blond would follow.

"See those carts?" He jerked his head to the left. "Go grab one."

--

Draco walked off to retrieve a cart. As he returned to Potter's side he studied the other man. His hair was a bit longer then he remembered, eyes a bit harder. His stride was different too. Draco sighed, suddenly extremely tired.

Harry stood by one of the long tables, looking down at the paper he had grabbed. "All right," he said. "Pay attention. This is your route number, it tells you how many fronts and inserts you need to grab from those piles over there." He pointed to his right without looking up. "And if you need to stop delivering to someone or start someone it will say it right here."

Draco nodded, only half paying attention. Standing so close to Harry and looking over his shoulder was making his brain go fuzzy. He took a deep breath through his nose and nearly choked. The other wizard still smelled amazing. He watched Harry's lips moving but heard none of it, his brain instead entertaining itself with memories of those lips softly kissing across every inch of Draco's body.

His eyes drifted up and met a pair of glaring green ones. He took a step back. "Sorry." He watched Potter walk away to the newspaper piles. _This is going to be a long night,_ he thought.

--

_This is going to be a long night,_ Harry thought. Draco sat in the passenger seat of his convertible, staring out the window for the most part. Neither one of them was buckled in.

"How'd you get here?" he finally asked.

"Broom," came the clipped answer.

Harry nodded. Pulling off the main road, he drove the car down a winding gravel path and parked it inside a shed. Without a word he turned the ignition off, pulled his wand from its holster on the sun visor, stepped out of the car and pulled the rear door open. Draco turned around in his seat. He opened his mouth to say something when Harry shrank all the newspapers with the flick of his wand.

"Get out of the car. Doing the deliveries is faster by broom," he explained.

He walked to the trunk of the car, unlocked it and took out two robes. Wordlessly he tossed one to the blond before shrugging his own on and stuffing tiny newspapers into his pockets. Draco watched him for a heartbeat before following suite.

--

"I didn't know you lived that close to the center," Draco said, trying hard to make small talk. The ground rushed past them. He thought delivering newspapers to Muggles via broom was a risk. Although, he mused, most Muggles won't be awake at three in the bloody morning.

"I don't. Porch."

Draco pursed his lips and nodded. He dove down, took one of the newspapers out of his pocket, and tossed it onto the porch of the house. As the paper clattered to the ground it grew back to its normal size. "Weasley and Granger then, huh?" he asked as he drew level with Potter again.

"No."

The blond looked up in surprise. "Won't Muggles wonder why a strange car is in their shed?"

Harry shook his head. "No. The house belongs to my friends. They know I'm a wizard and won't be surprised to see my car there. Tube."

With a huff the blond dove back down, tossed a paper into the tube on a mailbox and shot back up. This route was turning out to be more annoying then he had first thought. None of the houses were right next to each other, and in his opinion some Muggles where far too demanding on where they wanted their paper.

He watched Harry out of the corner of his eyes. The other man's jaw was clenched shut, eyes trained straight ahead, and hands clenched firmly around the broomstick. A faint tremor ran up his arms that Draco didn't think he was even aware of.

He took a deep breath. "Look, Harry. I'm sor–"

"Don't," Harry cut him off. "Whatever you have to say, just don't."

"But–"

"Malfoy, I don't want to hear it." Draco cringed at the venom in Harry's voice.

--

Had Harry been standing he would have kicked himself for sounding so harsh. He looked over at the blond and bit his bottom lip. Draco actually looked hurt. He snorted at the thought. Draco would look hurt only if hell froze over, he thought bitterly.

"Potter, I'm out of papers," the blond said.

Harry sighed and shrugged out of his robes. He held it out to the other man, but didn't move to breach the gap that sat between them. He heard Draco mutter something under his breath and couldn't help but smirk. Soft, cold fingers brushed his and he jerked his hand back with a gasp. Draco yelped and toppled forward off his broom. Harry cursed and dove after him, grasping the blonds' wrist a few feet before the ground. He lowered Draco to the ground and hovered above him.

"Th-thanks," Draco stammered, spelling the scattered papers back into the robe pockets and mounting his broom again.

"Yeah, no problem."

--

"God, Hermione, it was horrid," Harry moaned, letting his head drop into his hands. "We were so fucking close I could smell what shampoo he uses."

Hermione patted his arms affectionately. "Look on the bright side, Harry, only three more days and you'll never have to see him again."

"I don't think I can stand three more days. I might hex him… or worse, listen to what he has to say."

Next to him, Ron snorted. "Yeah, and then we'd be in real trouble. Just push the bastard off his broom tomorrow and let that be that. Ouch." Hermione hit his leg.

With an eye roll and a shake of her head she turned her attention back to her miserable best friend. "Would it really be that bad to just listen to him? Maybe… maybe it wouldn't be that bad."

A humorless laugh escaped Harry. "I don't want to listen to him. He'll only come up with some lame excuse."

Across from him Ron nodded. "He's right, you know."

Harry rubbed his forehead with the balls of his hands. With a sigh he sat up straighter and smiled at his friends. "I'll just ignore him as much as possible for the next three days and hope for the best."

"That's the spirit," Hermione said, reaching across the coffee table to pour Harry another cup of tea.

"I still think you should just push him off," Ron muttered.


	2. Day 2

**Authors Note: **Thanks again to juliakerns5 for betaing this chapter so quickly. You're amazing. D

_Day 2, June 3__rd_

Draco sat on one of the tables of the distribution center and stared into his cup of substandard coffee, waiting for the newspapers to arrive at the office; they were nearly an hour late. Yesterday had been a complete disaster – not at all how he had wanted to meet Harry again. In his mind the whole thing would have been a lot more tactful. And the blond had a feeling today would be no better.

Bored, he looked around and caught sight of the other wizard strolling around the front door. Without thinking about it he raised his hand in greeting. To his surprise Potter returned the gesture. He was even smiling.

Bracing his hand on the table, Harry jumped onto it and sat several hand spans away from Draco.

"Good morning," Draco said.

"'Morning," came the clipped reply.

Closing his eyes, Harry stretched his arms over his head, took a deep breath and slowly lowered himself backwards to lie on the table, the muscles in his abdomen bunching together. Draco's mouth went dry at the display. He quickly looked away, drank the last of his coffee and jumped off the table to use the furthest trashcan he could find.

As he predicted, today would not be any better.

--

"So why did you take this job?" asked Draco, stuffing an insert between the front's pages.

Harry was silent beside him, putting papers together at a speed that impressed the Slytherin. His mouth was set into a grim line of determination, his eyebrows wrinkled together. Just when Draco thought he wouldn't get an answer, Harry spoke.

"Kingsley placed me under five months mandatory paid vacation for working too hard. The friends whose shed I use had this route before me and needed some help one week. When they quit I took over. It gave me something to do."

Draco nodded to himself. He placed another finished paper on his pole. Glancing over her noticed that it was minuscule compared to Harry's.

"You?"

The question surprised the blond. He moved his hands back as Harry reached across their space and took half of each of his two piles.

"Same, I suppose. My supervisor at Gringotts told me I needed to take some time off and that I was taking too much overtime. My neighbors saw me not doing anything for a month and suggested taking on a paper route."

Harry glanced at him, pausing in his work. "Your neighbors?"

Draco nodded. "I moved to a flat in Muggle London. Less magical activity, et cetera," he explained.

Harry chuckled and continued his work. "Draco Malfoy living in Muggle London. Now I have heard everything," he said, shaking his head.

--

It was becoming increasingly hard for the vacationing Auror to stay pissed at the blond flying next to him. With their cloak pockets filled with tiny rolled up newspapers and his car safely tucked away in the shed, the men had once again mounted their brooms and were weaving back and forth down a street. It was even harder however to ignore Draco all together.

He watched the blond tip his broom forward – lifting his ass in the air in the process – to retrieve a newspaper that had ended up in the bushes. Harry rolled his eyes and said, "You know, _Accio_ would work a lot better."

Draco glared over his shoulder, waving the newspaper in Harry's direction. "I know that. You shouldn't require me to think at this ungodly hour. You know damn well that I need at least two cups of coffee to…" he trailed off.

Harry licked his lips, taking sudden interest in the handle of his broom. "Let's just finish the route," he finally said.

He heard the soft thud of the paper hitting the porch and turned around to head back up the street. This was turning into another horrible morning. Maybe he could ask someone else to train Draco for the last two days. _But that would make me look like a coward,_ he thought.

"How are Granger and Weasley?" Draco asked next to him.

He shrugged, keeping his eyes straight ahead. "They're doing well. Hermione had the baby; they named her Rose. Cutest baby you'll ever see. How is, erm, your mother doing?"

"She's doing very well, thanks for asking. Finally started on that flower garden of hers. It seems to relax her."

Harry nodded, not sure what else to say. He glanced at his wristwatch and cursed. It was already six in the morning. Why was this taking so long? There really was no point in hurrying home to catch that hour of sleep. Instead he turned his head and said, "If you're done with the rest of the papers in ten minutes I'll take you out to breakfast."

Malfoy considered it, rolling his gray eyes upward. Finally he nodded. "You're on."

--

Draco sniffed down at the menu in front of him, wondering for the hundredth time how Muggles managed not to have heart attacks every third day. Everything was either deep fried, slathered in butter, or contained enough meat to satisfy a starving Hippogriff. Across from him Harry was nursing his third cup of coffee.

"Malfoy, if you don't order something the second the waitress comes back I'm ordering for you," the complained, placing his cup on it's saucer with a bit more force then necessary. "It's not rocket science."

"Have you seen this menu? It's horrible. Why must everything be so artery clogging?"

Harry let his head drop on the table. From under his arm he saw the waitresses shoes before he heard her speak. "He'll have two scones, butter and strawberry jam on the side. He'll also have some coffee, black," he said.

She scribbled the order down, took Draco's menu and retreated to the kitchen, muttering something to herself that sounded an awful lot like 'finally'. Seconds later she was back with his coffee.

"So," Draco said, resting his elbows on the slightly sticky table, cradling the cup between his hands. "Why breakfast?"

Harry raised his head, cradling his cup in his palm. He looked out the window at the sunrise and said, "Because I need to be somewhere in an hour anyways, and figured getting some food before I go was a good idea. Also, it got you finished a hell of a lot earlier then it would have otherwise." He said the last with a smile.

Draco stared at the smile and couldn't help smiling himself. He missed breakfast with the brunette. Knowing that Harry still knew his taste in food so well made his heart ache.

"You'll really need to pick up the pace if you want to get done before six every day," Harry suddenly said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"I'll remember that, thanks." Draco bit his bottom lip. Taking a deep breath he sat up straighter and leaned over the table a bit. "Look, Harry, I…"

The other wizard turned around slowly. He stared at the blond with cold indifference. Shaking his head he said, "Malfoy, don't. I don't want to hear what you have to say. I didn't want to hear it six months ago, I didn't want to hear it last night, and I certainly don't want to hear it today over breakfast."

Malfoy opened his mouth to press on but their waitress returned, placing their food down in front of them without another word. She refilled their coffee cups silently and retreated to the kitchen, mostly likely to thumb through some magazine.

They ate in silence. Draco didn't taste his scones, nor did the notice when the girl returned for a third time to pour him more coffee. He watched Harry in the reflection of the window whenever possible. _This is ridiculous,_ he thought.

Suddenly Harry looked at his watch and cursed under his breath. He stood abruptly and held up a hand when Draco tried to follow suite. "Sit. I have to get going but you can stay and actually enjoy your breakfast," he said. Taking a few bills out of his back pocket, he dropped them on the table. He finished his coffee and smiled at Draco. "I'll see you around."

As he left he let his hand skate across Draco arms. The blond shivered at the touch and the memories. It had been such a normal thing for the brunette to do every morning as he left for work, Draco wondered if it was just habit. Probably.

--

Harry drummed out a steady beat on the steering wheel as he headed for the ministry. Traffic was going at a snail's pace, which was unfortunately giving him a lot of time to think. Most of those thoughts revolved around Malfoy.

He had not meant to touch Draco's arm as he left the diner. It was just a habit he had formed and had trouble getting rid of. He did it with everyone, no big deal.

_Liar. This is the first time you've done it in months,_ he told himself.

As he stopped for another red light he dropped his head on the wheel, hitting the horn, and startling the pedestrians around him. He smiled at them sheepishly. His resolve was breaking and he knew it. The next two nights could not go by any faster.


	3. Day 3

**Authors Note: **Thanks again to juliakerns5 for betaing this chapter so quickly. You're amazing. D

_Day 3, June 4th_

"Harry, mate, don't take this the wrong way, but you look like shit," Ron said around the pen stuck between his lips. The pen looked a bit silly in the otherwise magical setting of the Auror department, but Harry didn't feel like saying anything. Instead he let his head drop on his best friend's desk.

"Good, that means I look better then I feel."

"Have you put thought to my earlier proposal? No one will know if you give him that little shove."

Harry rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. "I am not going to push Malfoy off his broom. I have tonight and tomorrow to deal with and then I'll never have to see the prat again."

Ron leaned back in his chair, tapped his fingers and pursed his lips. "Riiiiight. You sound so pleased about that," he drawled, taking the pen out of his mouth. "Mate, you still care about him, don't you?"

The brunette mumbled something incoherent. Ron raised his eyebrows. He reached over his office desk and poked at Harry's bowed head with the end of his pen.

"Yes, I still care about the bastard," Harry muttered, raising his head just slightly. "Not that I know why."

"Because you're in love. That's why." Ron sighed, raking a hand through his hair. He stood up, looked around the office and ducked back into his cubical. He leaned forward and lowered his voice to just above a whisper. "Listen, I would be one of the first people to tell you 'good riddance to him' but you're miserable for some stupid reason and everyone sees it. First you lay around your flat for a month, not wanting to talk to anyone and when you finally get back to work, you take on every dangerous case you can get your hands on. It's no wonder Kingsley made you take a vacation."

Harry raised his head. He opened his mouth to defend his case but Ron cut him off with a raised hand.

"I'm not done yet. Taking on that paper job was a good idea on your part, and I'm sorry that out of the millions of people in London you are stuck training Malfoy. But for the love of Merlin either listen to what he has to say, or punch him in the face and get it over with. Either way you'll have to do something."

Harry blinked at his best friend. Where the hell had that come from? He grinned at Ron and threw the discarded pen at him. "Are you sure you aren't Hermione in disguise?"

"Oh no, I'm very much me," Ron grinned back. "Just don't tell her – or anyone for that matter – what I just told you. Wouldn't want to lose my reputation."

--

"Draco, darling, what do you think of this flower over here? Too much?"

Draco looked up from the Prophet, not having digested a single thing. "I'm sorry, Mother, what did you say?"

Narcissa stood up with a scowl. She brushed her dirty hands together before placing them on her robes. "Honestly, Draco. Your head has been elsewhere this whole week. Is this really still about Harry?"

"What? No. Not at all. I was just reading," he looked down at the paper. "This article right here. Very interesting. I was lost in the story."

Narcissa walked over to her son and looked at the article. She raised one graceful eyebrow and asked, "You where fascinated by an article about the largest hairball every produced by a talking cat?"

Draco blushed and nodded. His mother sighed and sat down next to him, taking one of his hands into her own. She smiled at him kindly.

"Darling, it's alright. I know that it must be strange for you to be so close to him. But you must do something. Talk to him."

"But he doesn't want to talk to me," the blond whined.

"Then cast a full-body bind on him. Anything to make him hold still and listen. Trust me, it works very well. I used it on your Father once." With that, she patted her son's hand affectionately and stood up, walking over to her flowerbed, muttering something about baby's breath.

--

"I'm not going to fly this one with you today," Harry said, steadying his broom on the other side of the gates of the gated community. "You should know the houses here already."

Draco took a deep breath and flew off, keeping low to the grass. Harry watched him throw a treat to a black poodle, straining against its leash. _When did he grab those?_ he thought.

He looked around, rather bored now that he had nothing to do. His eyes fell on an apple tree in one of the subscribers' yards. Keeping away from the security camera, he flew over to it and plucked a large apple from the top of the tree. Harry took a large bite and regretted it instantly. The apples were disgusting. He spat the mouthful out and out of spite speared the remainder on the top of their flagpole.

He glanced at his watch impatiently. It didn't take that long to deliver eighteen newspapers by broom. He slowly eased his broom forward. Suddenly he heard a loud yelp. Cursing under his breath, Harry zoomed forward, wand at the ready.

"Draco?!" he called out.

Silence. With a steadily growing feeling of worry the Auror flew in small circles, straining his eyes to catch even a tiny glimpse of the blond. Just as he was ready to cast a locater spell there was a cough to his right. Harry cast a quick _Lumos_ and raised his wand just in time to see Draco slowly rising into the air from behind a row of hedges.

The blond glared. His hair was plastered to his head, hanging into his eyes and water dripping steadily down his face. His gray robes were now black and hung heavily on his slender frame. Even the bristles of his broom hung limp. To Harry, Draco's appearance had a drenched ferret look to it. At the thought his lips twitched into a grin and he burst out laughing.

"Haha, Potter. Very funny," Draco drawled, flicking water at his companion.

"I'm sorry," Harry wheezed. "But you just look so funny. I didn't think the Dupree's would have their sprinkler timer set for so early."

"A sprinkler?!" Draco shrieked in disbelief. "That was no sprinkler, more like a bloody fountain."

Harry held up a hand in surrender. "All right, calm down. You can dry off at my flat if you'd like. There's no way a drying spell would take care of this mess."

Draco frowned. "I can apparate, you know," he said.

"You could. But as exhausted as you are, you'd probably splinch yourself." Harry turned his broom around and nudged it forward a little. "Come on, Malfoy."

"I'm not a dog to be commanded around," the blond complained.

Harry looked over his shoulder and grinned. "No, just a really wet ferret."

--

Draco alighted next to Harry on the front steps of his flat just at the outskirts of London. He looked around the neighborhood as Harry rescinded his wards. He stepped through the door first and held if open for the blond, who nodded his thanks.

"You, erm, moved," he commented, looking around the flat.

Although the outside and location where new, the inside looked practically the same. Just off the foyer was the living room with its green couch, single green armchair, and black coffee table set in front of the fireplace. Across was the kitchen, still small, still crammed looking. A long hallway lead to the back of the flat, which Draco could only presume held the bedrooms and bathroom.

Harry shrugged out of his robe and tossed it over the back of the chair. "Had to. Change of scenery," he said. "Let's get you something dry to wear. Just toss your cloak anywhere." With that he walked down the hallway, leaving Draco to his own devices.

The blond shed his robe and hung it carefully on the coat rack and did the same with Harry's. He sat on the chairs arm, waiting patiently.

"I found you some clothes that might fit you. Not sure about the boxers though," Harry said from behind him.

Draco turned around with a small smile. "It will be fine I'm sure. Thank you. Hey, isn't that my shirt?" he asked, nodding at the green button up shirt lying on the top of the pile of clothes.

Harry nodded and said, "It is. I found it a few weeks ago in a box and just never found the time to return it. You can change in the bathroom. Third door on your right."

Draco took the clothes. He headed for the bathroom, wondering just how long the brunette had really known about the shirt.

--

Harry ran a hand over his face, pushing his glasses to the top of his head. "Merlin, do I need a cup of tea," he muttered to himself. "Malfoy!" he shouted.

The bathroom door cracked open a little. "Yeah?"

"I'm making tea, want a cup?"

"Yes, please. Earl Gray if you have it." And the door shut again.

"Of course it's Earl Gray, it's always Earl Gray," Harry muttered.

He busied himself in the kitchen, trying his hardest not to think about Malfoy changing in his bathroom. He was almost successful. With a bit more force then was necessary he slammed the water kettle on the range, sloshing water all over the counter.

"I see you're still as miserable a cook as you were six months ago," Draco drawled from the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the doorframe.

"Just sit down on the couch," Harry bit back. _God, I hate that man,_ he thought.

With a chuckle Draco left the kitchen.

_How did I end up with Malfoy in my flat?_ Harry wondered. His plan had been to ignore the blond for four days; not to end up with him in his flat, serving him tea, and wondering if having that talk wouldn't be so bad after all.

He shook his head quickly. What a bad idea. Malfoy would just come up with excuses, Harry would believe them, and the whole cycle would repeat itself a few months from now. _And I'll be damned if that happens_.

He rummaged through his cupboard, shifting tea boxes around, trying to locate that last box of Earl Gray he had. Behind the box of lemon mango was nothing; not even the vile vanilla chi proved to be helpful.

"Hey Malfoy," he called out, padding back into the living room. "I don't have Earl Gray, want anything… else?"

He stopped just short of the couch. Draco was curled up on it, fast asleep. Strands of his hair feel over his eyes and his lips were slightly parted. One hand was curled into a loose fist close to his heart, the other tucked underneath his head.

Something tugged at Harry's heart and his lips curled into a sad smile. At one point he had lost track of the times he had come home to find the blond asleep like that, a book usually dangling from his hand or laying open on the floor. He had never understood how Draco could work himself to the point of exhaustion.

He took the throw off the back of the couch and covered Draco with it, who stirred in his sleep and rubbed the side of his nose before laying perfectly still once more.

Harry sat on the edge of his coffee table and watched the blond sleep. He reached out to tuck the stray pieces of hair back into place and asked, "How did we ever go wrong?"

He received no answer.


	4. Day 4

_Day 4, June 5th_

One gray, bleary eye opened and blinked back shut. Draco turned his head to the side, away from the shaft of morning light that fell across his face. At least he assumed it was morning light. With a yawn and a stretch he sat up and surveyed his surroundings. Where the hell was he anyways? In a rush, the early morning hours came back to him. He had gotten wet, changed at Potters place, and apparently fallen asleep on his couch. Perfect.

He untangled himself from the covers and stood up. On a chair by the front door he spotted his clothes with a little note, all nearly folded and in a pile.

_Draco,_

_Dried your clothes for you this morning. Sorry that I had to leave before you woke up. Kingsley needed me. There's a cup of coffee in the kitchen if you want it. Please use the floo when you leave, otherwise you'll sent all my wards off. Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow morning._

_Harry_

The blond balled the note up in his fist and walked into the kitchen. Coffee, he needed coffee. A cup sat on the counter, still steaming hot. He breathed in the rich aroma and gratefully wrapped his hands around the cup. Lifting it to his lips he took a careful sip and discovered that it was even sweetened just the way he liked it. Damn.

He quickly changed into his own clothes again, not caring that he was doing it in the middle of Harry's living room. Draining the last of his coffee he scribbled a quick 'thank you' on the back of a napkin and left via floo, taking his other shirt with him.

--

It was pouring rain outside; the kind that could only be described as horizontal. The two wizards stood by the door of the office and stared into the sheets of wetness. Draco huddled in his coat and even Harry had his shoulders hunched.

"We'll have to drive the route today," he said.

"Why?" Draco asked. "Water repellent charms and heating spells should do the trick."

The brunette shook his head. "The wind is too strong and any second it's going to become a thunder storm." As if on cue rolling thunder washed across them. Harry raised his eyebrows and held one hand in front of him, palm up. "See?"

Draco huffed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's get this over with then."

--

Harry drummed out a steady beat on the steering wheel, waiting for the streetlight to change. Beside him, Draco was playing with the buttons, mainly the one for the window. He let it slide down for the hundredth time, rain flying into the car and ruining Harry's upholstery. The dark-haired wizard reached over to his left and pushed the auto-lock button, putting an end to the button pushing when the window was closed again.

Draco blinked at the button, pushing it up and down frantically. "Uh, Potter," he finally said. "I think I broke you window."

"You didn't. I auto-locked it. Finally!" The light had turned green and Harry shot through the intersection.

He played with the radio, but only received static. _This is going to be another long night_, he thought, turning the radio off again. He pulled into a side street and slowed the car down, unlocking the windows and lowering his. "You might want to place those water repellent charms on yourself," he said, sticking his wand out the window and casting a spell over it. "You'll be doing a lot of walking."

Draco grumbled but cast the spell anyways. He grabbed a newspaper and looked at the house they had stopped in front of. "Porch, right?" Harry nodded. With a sigh the blond opened the door, stepped into the rain, and made a mad dash for the house.

"Close the damn door!" Harry shouted after him. "You're ruining my car!"

Draco ran back, hopped into the car and smirked. "I think that's the first time I heard you speak so fondly of anything," he teased.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Then you obviously never heard any of the things I say when you weren't around."

Before Draco could reply, the car stopped again and he had to get back out. Harry watched him dash up to the next porch. Just talk to him, a voice that sounded a lot like Hermione said in the back of his head. He shook his head violently to dislodge the babbling.

"Are you having some sort of episode?" Draco asked, sliding back into the car.

Harry nearly hit a mailbox in his frustration. "Just shut up and do your job."

--

Draco tapped a leftover newspaper against his leg. He stared at the red light and wondered yet again why Harry couldn't just drive past it anyways; it wasn't like there was anyone else on the street. He wasn't sure why Harry had agreed to drive him home, and he didn't really care; flying in that rain would have been a bitch.

"Why?" Harry suddenly asked him, keeping his eyes trained ahead.

Draco furrowed his eyebrows. "Why, what?" he asked.

"You know damn well what," Harry growled. "Why the hell did you fuck me over like that? I thought we had a good thing going."

The light bulb went off in Draco's head. "We did," he said. "And I told you before, I hadn't meant to. But you never gave me the chance to explain."

Harry laughed humorously. He glanced over at the blond and Draco sucked in a breath. If looks could kill he was sure he would have dropped dead right then. "And what explanation would you have given me, pray tell?" he asked. "That it wasn't what it looked like? That it was a mistake? That you loved me and had never meant to hurt me?"

Draco gulped. _Where the hell is this coming from?_ he thought. "Well… yes, but–"

"Are you kidding me?" Harry nearly shouted. "You, prince of eloquence, would have used the biggest clichés in modern language? I may have expected something like that from Boot, Thomas, or Nott. But not from you."

Draco sat in the passenger seat, dumbstruck, staring out the windshield, only vaguely noting that Harry had shot through the last three red lights. With a deep breath he faced the other wizard, straining against the seat belt.

"And what would you have me say?" he asked. "They may be clichés but they were accurate. I did love you, and never meant to hurt you. Hell, I still love you. It was a stupid mistake, and I regret it every damn day. What else do you want from me?"

Harry turned a corner too sharply, sending Draco forward, his nose colliding with the stick shift. "How about," he ground out between clenched teeth. "An actual explanation, and a decent apology?"

Draco straightened up, wiggling his nose to make sure it wasn't broken. "Fine. I'm sorry, okay? I have never been sorrier about anything in my life. I was drunk and he was just kind of there. And he looked so much like you… and you were never around–"

Harry slammed on the breaks. The blond jerked to the side, nearly hitting his head on the dashboard. Beside him, Harry was gripping the wheel until his knuckles turned white. He turned his head slightly to look at Draco, mouth set in a hard line.

"Are you trying to tell me it was my fault?" he asked, voice cold and even.

"Wha – no! Of course not. But you were always so busy with your damned Auror training. You were gone for three bloody months for Merlin's sake. Zabini thought it would be a good idea to go out and have a drink; get me out of the flat. And suddenly I was drunk, and Davies was just there, and he looked so much like you… And I'm sorry, okay?! Gods Harry, what the fuck else do you want? Shall I go get down on my knees and beg and plead before the Chosen One? Would you like that? Well, you can forget it. I realized that I fucked up, but I'll be damned if I bow down before you!"

The car was silent. Harry flexed his hands. He licked his lips and nodded once. "Get out," he whispered. But Draco didn't move. "I said, get the fuck out of my car, Malfoy." The passenger side door opened by itself, letting sheets of rain in.

Draco glared at Harry. "Gladly."

As he slid out of the car he took one last look at Harry and slammed the door shut. He flipped the collar of his coat up and stormed off down the street. Behind him the car jumped back into gear and sped down the street, spraying gravel into the air. He kicked a can out of the way and yelled, "Fuck!"

--

Harry rolled over in his bed, wishing hangovers didn't hurt that much. His head was pounding out a steady beat, keeping time with the idiot that was pounding on his door. Running a hand over his eyes, he swung his legs over the side of his bed, perched his glasses on his nose and padded down the hallway.

"Alright, alright, I'm comin'." he yelled. The knocking thankfully stopped.

He wrenched the door open, to the smiling face of Hermione. "Oh good, you're awake," she said happily, bustling into his flat.

He shut the door with a kick of his foot. "How could I not be? You've been pounding on my door for the last five minutes. 'Mione, why are you here?"

"I came to check on you. I heard last night didn't go over very well," she explained, depositing a tray of coffee and bag of bagels on the kitchen counter. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Harry popped the top off one of the cups and took in a deep breath. It smelled delicious. Hopping onto the counter he took out a bagel, bit into the warm, soft bread and closed his eyes. Heaven.

"Really? 'Cause Draco is a bit… beside himself," Hermione said. She had the second cup raised in front of her lips, eyebrows raised.

Harry nearly chocked on the bite he was swallowing. Hermione rushed forward, pounding on his back until he raised his hand and began to breathe somewhat normally again.

"And you know this how?" he croaked.

"He, uh, send me an owl this morning. Wanted to know what he should do. He said he still cared about you and was sure he had really messed things up."

Harry's shoulders slumped. It wasn't like Malfoy to ask Hermione for help, no matter what it was about. The Slytherin was too proud for that. He chewed on his bottom lip, deep in thought.

"He said that?" Hermione nodded. Harry frowned and looked into his cup. "Then maybe he shouldn't have said those things this morning. God, all I wanted out of him was an apology and he gets all bitchy."

Hermione frowned, crossing her arms at her chest, the coffee forgotten. "Well, it's not like you were being very nice about the whole thing. Jumping down the poor guy's throat like that."

Harry blinked at her. "Whose side are you on? Malfoy insulted me, and made it sound like the whole thing was my fault."

Hermione glared at him. She took a step forward and said, "Had you listened to me the first time instead of storming off, I wouldn't have had to insult you this morning! Gods Harry, you are so hot headed it's nearly impossible to talk to you sometimes."

Harry blinked at his best friends again, totally confused. "Wha—"

But she pressed on. "Furthermore, you chose the worst time to have this talk. I thought it would be over coffee or something, or at least somewhere where I didn't have to worry about getting my head bashed in by your fucking dashboard!"

"What the hell are you talking about Hermione? Have you completely lost…" Harry trailed off, watching Hermione's bushy, brown hair straighten out and turn blond. Platinum blond. "You didn't."

"Oh, I did," Hermione squealed, her voice becoming deeper and deeper. "Because this was going to be the only way that I would be able to talk to you."

Harry watched as Hermione's soft features turned more masculine, her hair shrinking to sit in neat spikes on her head. Malfoy stood before him proudly, arms still crossed over his chest, looking a bit ridiculous in the feminine robes.

"I don't believe you. How dare you polyjuice into my friends just to talk to me?"

"Because otherwise you wouldn't have listened. And I needed to talk to you. I want to set things right."

Harry snorted. He folded his hands under his chest and leaned backwards until he rested against he cabinet behind him. With raised eyebrows he said, "Go on then."

Draco licked his lips, unsure where to begin. Taking a deep breath he plunged in, head first. "You can't imagine how sorry I am. Like I said, I was drunk and Davies looked too much like you. I missed you like crazy, Harry. You were always gone on your little Auror training missions." He held up a hand to stop the words that Harry was about to utter. "Let me finish. If I had a time turner I would go back and change it, I swear. But I can't. I won't ask you to forgive and forget; I just wanted to deliver that apology you wanted." He pressed his lips together and nodded. "I'll see myself out."

Harry sat on the counter, staring down at the floor. He saw Draco's shoes walk past him, felt the brush of robes against his knees. With a determined huff he jumped off the counter and followed the blond out into the living room. But he was already gone, the front door softly clicking shut.

--

One leg languidly flung over the armchairs armrest swung back and forth in time with the ticking clock. The flat was otherwise silent. Harry's head was tilted back at an uncomfortable angle, but he didn't notice it much. His thoughts were elsewhere anyways; mainly with a certain blond.

_Because otherwise you wouldn't have listened._ Malfoy had told him.

Harry frowned and sank deeper into the cushion of the armchair. "I would have too listened," he muttered underneath his breath. "How can he just assume that?"

_I missed you like crazy, Harry._

"I _was_ gone a lot. No," Harry huffed, shaking his head and sitting up quickly. "This was not my fault. And I am not going to start thinking that maybe it was."

He stormed off into the kitchen, sure that something needed cleaning. His eyes fell on the remaining coffee and bagels. With an angry swipe of his arm he threw them into the trashcan. It was ridiculous. He hadn't thought about Draco in months and suddenly traces of him where everywhere.

…_I would go back and change it, I swear. But I can't._

Harry walked into the bedroom and rummaged through his armoire. Once fully dressed, he picked up his broom and invisibility cloak. Swinging the cloak over his shoulders he opened the patio door, stepped onto the landing and locked the door again behind him. He kicked off. The promise of even more rain hung in the muggy June air.

He smiled as he shot high into the air, letting his feet brush over the treetops. Flying would clear his mind; it always did.

_I still love you._ Malfoy's' voice continued, undeterred by the flying.

"I still love you too," he whispered. With new determination, he turned his broom around and flew in the direction of Diagon Alley.

--

Draco sat behind his desk at Gringotts, doodling little swirls in the margins of his ledger. One of the goblins walked passed him, patting his back in reassurance. Suddenly a thick file landed on his ledger and quill. He looked up into the scowling face of his supervisor.

"Malfoy, I thought I had told you to take time off," the wizard said. "What are you doing here?"

"I know. I just wanted to drop something off and… lost track of time."

The wizard nodded. He pointed at the file and said, "Take this home with you. It's the Auror department's funding budget. It needs looking at." With that he turned around and strode away.

Draco pulled the file closer and flipped it open, and groaned. Tiny, crammed handwriting ran across page after page, labeling random expenses. Arrows pointed from one column to the next, running over the top of sentence, and making a general mess of things. Letting the file fall shut, he leaned back in his chair, eyes closed. Suddenly the chair tipped back even further. Draco yelped and tore his eyes open; only to look into a pair of emerald green eyes hovering above him.

"You're an arrogant, evil, sadistic, bastard. But damn it if I don't love that about you," Harry said before he leaned down, pressing his lips to Draco's.

"What are you doing here?" the blond asked against Harry's lips when they parted.

"Looking for you. You're right, I'm not going to forgive and forget, but I would like to try again," Harry said, smiling down at the blond.

Draco suppressed a laugh, instead wrapping his arms around Harry's neck to draw him down for another kiss. "I'd like that."


	5. Epiloge

**Authors Note: **Well, this is the last chapter of 4DoT. It's the first time I've written actual smut, so be gentle. xD Thanks a bunch to everyone that has read the story. And a huge thank you to my beta. D  
And I would love to know what you guys thought about the story.

_3 Months later_

"What the hell is this?"

Harry jerked awake. He untangled himself from the tanned limbs that lay across his torso and thigh, and stood quickly. For a moment his vision was an odd mash up of clarity and blurriness, until he realized his glasses were crooked. Straitening them out, he looked for the source of the voice that had woken him, and his eyes zeroed in on Draco. The blond stood in the living room, a copy of the daily Muggle newspaper in this hand, arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh shit. Draco, this isn't what it looks like."

"Oh really?" Draco looked around the living room, eyes landing on the tanned limbs and brown hair peeking out from the thin blanket. "I think it's exactly what it looks like. You haven't managed to unpack a single box, have you?" he asked, gesturing at the boxes littering the floor, turning the area into a miniature warehouse.

Harry scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "No," he finally muttered.

Draco heaved a sigh, dropping the paper into a random box. "Honestly Harry, what am I going to do with you? You can't even manage to unpack a single flat. And you call yourself a wizard."

Harry frowned. "Well, it's not like Hermione and I haven't been working all bloody day while you were running errands." he said.

At her name, Hermione stirred. She pulled the covers off her head and blinked open bleary eyes, looking around the room. "What about me?" she asked, voice thick with sleep.

Draco couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. "Nothing, Granger. I was just telling Harry that for the most powerful wizard on the planet he sucks at unpacking." Laughing, he ducked as a ball of packing material his lover had chucked at him soared.

"We were unpacking," he insisted. "But since you insisted on having cable and Internet installed today, we couldn't use magic. Turns out, the cable guy is a Muggle; what a shock that was," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "You'll be happy to note that the bedroom is all finished, though."

Draco raised one eyebrow gracefully. "Really?" In three long strides he stood over Hermione, grasping her hand and yanking her to her feet. He picked a cloak – he wasn't even sure whose it was – off a nearby table and thrust it into her arms, keeping his hand on the small of her back as he steered her towards the door. "My apologies Granger, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Thank you for your help, much appreciated. But Harry and I are terribly busy. Come back, say, Tuesday? Have a wonderful day." With that he opened the door and pushed her gently out into the hallway.

Hermione blinked a few times, mouth opening and closing like a fish's. "But this isn't even—" she began, before Draco shut the door in her face.

He turned around and smirked at Harry. "You. Bedroom. Now." he growled.

Harry smirked back at him. "Make me," he challenged.

Draco strode over to the other wizard, bunched his hands into the soft material of Harry's shirt and drew him flush against his own body for a heated kiss. With a groan, Harry melted against Draco's mouth, snaking one hand into the blonds' soft hair. He wrapped his other hand around Draco's waist, effectively pinning him. As if the blond was even thinking about leaving.

Draco pulled back a little to suck on Harry's bottom lip, enjoying the way it made Harry gasp. He kissed a trail from the brunette's lips to his ear to take the lobe into his mouth and suck on his gently.

"Ready to go into the bedroom?" he breathed into Harry's ear.

Harry only nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Merlin, the blond turned him on.

Draco pushed against his lover, walking him backwards down the hall. When Harry's back was pinned against the closed bedroom door, Draco captured his mouth in another searing kiss, licking Harry's bottom lip, begging for entrance. He received it more then willingly. Their tongues danced with each other, battling for dominance, before they resigned themselves to gentle caresses and exploration.

Harry reached behind his back to open the door, and was marched – still backwards – into the room, and toppled onto the bed. Draco crawled over him to sit on his lap, straddling his waist. The blond ran slender fingers under Harry's shirt, brushing them softly against his side, making him squirm.

"You're shirt needs to come off," he whispered.

Harry sat up in a crunch position and raised his arms over his head, letting Draco pull the shirt over his head. As soon as he was free of the material he went to work on the buttons of Draco's shirt, driving the blond crazy with small kisses as more and more skin was exposed. He let his fingers linger on the last button, capturing one of Draco's nipples between his lips, sucking it into a hard bud. He was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath, and Draco's fingers clenching his hair.

"I love it when you make that noise," he murmured against Draco's chest, undoing the last button and sliding the silky fabric over the pale shoulders, down the beautifully curved back, and flinging it onto the floor.

Draco leaned down to kiss Harry gently. "You had better hope that shirt doesn't wrinkle."

Harry laughed against the blonds' lips. He wrapped his arms around the slender waist and with ease flipped Draco over. "It won't wrinkle," he promised. "Now shut up and enjoy yourself."

He planted little kisses along Draco's chest and he crawled down towards the trousers that stood between him and his favorite part of the blonds' anatomy. Not that the rest of Draco wasn't beautiful. He unbuttoned them quickly but took his time on the zipper, taking the little metal tongue into his mouth and drawing it slowly down, one metal tooth at a time. He rolled his eyes upwards to watch Draco and smirked at the dreamy look in the blonds' eyes.

The brunette curled his fingers under the waistband of the trousers and slowly eased them down, taking time to nuzzle the bulge in Draco's boxers. Draco gasped, hands clutching at the bed sheets. He glanced down long enough to realize they were a horrible shade of red before Harry's lips pressed against his growing erection through the silky material of his boxers.

"Merlin," he breathed, arching his back a little.

Harry chuckled against the confined cock, making it twitch. He slipped his fingers under the waistband of Draco's – where those honestly silver? – boxers and practically ripped them off his lovers body, not being able to wait any longer. He stroked Draco's cock with one finger before bending down and swirling his tongue over the head. His own cock twitched happily, pressing hard against its confines, begging to be let out.

He sucked lightly on Draco's head; encouraged by the soft moaning sounds spilling from the other man's lips. He ran his tongue up and down Draco's length before taking as much of the blond into his mouth as he could. He started up a slow rhythm with mouth and hand to match the breathed mantra of "yes, yes, yes" that came from above.

Before long, Draco's fingers clenched in his hair, pulling his head up and away. Draco kissed him hungrily, biting and nipping at Harry's lower lip. Moaning, Harry's deepened the kiss, running his tongue across Draco's, savoring the moment.

"I want you inside me. Now," Draco breathed against Harry's ear.

He whispered something and Harry was vaguely aware of cold air brushing across his arse. He gasped as Draco wrapped his legs around Harry's waist, dragging him forward, creating delicious friction between them. He thrust his hips forward, marveling at the sounds that escaped Draco's lips.

With a quick spell he prepared Draco. Grasping the blond's slender hips he angled himself better and pushed gently against the tight ring of muscles. Draco arched his back off the bed again.

"Merlin, Potter. Get on with it."

Harry grinned and shrugged. "If you insist." Pressing his lips against Draco's, he thrust forward, swallowing the blond's cry.

He sat still for a moment, giving his lover time to adjust. He trailed soft kisses down his chest, moaning every now and again and Draco clenched around him. When Draco rocked his hips up to take even more of Harry in, he pulled nearly all the way out – much to the disappointing groans of Draco – and thrust back in.

"Oh, gods, yessss," the Slytherin hissed.

Harry picked up the pace, relishing in the feeling of Draco writhing underneath him. He reached between them to grasp the limp member. With a few languid strokes, it was back to ram rod attention. He increased his pace, as well as that of his hand, and before long Draco shouted his name, and came over his own stomach. Harry groaned as the muscles around his cock clenched him even tighter, and came hard, breathing Draco's name.

He collapsed on top of the other wizard, both of them breathing hard. Draco raised one shaking hand to run through the mess of black hair. "Gods, I've missed this," he muttered.

"Mmm, me too," Harry murmured, trying to keep sleep at bay. He rolled off Draco and onto his side. With one arm, he drew the other man against him.

"But next time," Draco said with a yawn. "I'm on top."

Harry chuckled. "You're an evil, sadistic bastard. But I love that about you."

Draco chuckled and snuggled against Harry, who had already fallen sleep. "I love you too," he whispered.


End file.
